LAWRENCE: Shaun T tells students: It’s time to change your life

Fitness expert, choreographer and motivational speaker Shaun Thompson was at Rider University’s Alumni Gym.

   ”It’s not all about your arms, your abs or defining your shoulders or your legs. It’s about defining your life. It’s who you are first and your effect on people and the world around you.”
   That was the message delivered to dozens of Rider University students Saturday afternoon by fitness expert, choreographer and motivational speaker Shaun Thompson at the college’s Alumni Gym.
   More popularly known as Shaun T, he is the creator of “Insanity,” an exercise program in which individuals work out strenuously for several minutes, cool down for less than a minute and then resume working out.
   ”I want to help inspire you to become a healthier person. You are the nucleus of your existence. You can talk about change. Your life is never going to be stagnant. You are always changing. Be aware of who you are,” Mr. Thompson said.
   Mr. Thompson asked the students to close their eyes and to focus on what’s happening inside their bodies. They should feel their hearts beating and their fingers tingling. When they opened their eyes, he told them that they are “constantly changing.”
   ”If you’ve got this crazy thing — your boyfriend (is upsetting you), there’s a paper you have to write — it’s eventually going to pass by. The first step to making a change is to know who you are. That’s the meat of what it is — knowing who you are (and) accepting who you are,” he said.
   Mr. Thompson shared some details of his early life. He told the students that when he enrolled at Rowan University, he received a college ID card. That card enabled him to buy books and also food from the school cafeteria.
   ”That card completely changed my life,” he said.
   When he enrolled as a freshman, he weighed 178 pounds. But knowing that he could swipe that card at the cafeteria and eat all that he wanted — that was significant.
   That’s because Mr. Thompson grew up in a household where food was not plentiful. His family was on food stamps, and he and his brother often went to bed hungry. Sometimes they would sneak into the kitchen late at night, grab a slice of bread and go back to their bedrooms.
   After he enrolled at Rowan, it didn’t take long for his weight to balloon from 178 to 230 pounds. He was only 19 years old and he did not recognize himself. He recalled waking up one morning and looking in the mirror. He was “so unhappy” with what he saw that he got dressed and went to the school’s gym.
   ”I was tired and I was embarrassed at what I looked like. I spent 10 minutes on the treadmill and then I went to the weight room. I was feeling really good. I started to lose weight,” Mr. Thompson said.
   He liked it so much that he changed his college major to sports science, with a minor in theater and dance.
   One of the requirements, however, was to teach a group exercise class. He had some trepidation about teaching a class, but there were really no options — either teach it or run away. It was out of his comfort zone, but he chose to teach the aerobics class.
   After a couple of months, an older man in the group exercise class approached him and told him that the class had changed his life, Mr. Thompson said. The man told him that he felt better and had more energy.
   ”I started teaching and I thought, ‘I could do this forever.’ It was not work for me, it was like, ‘This is fun,’” Mr. Thompson said.
   He graduated from college and moved to Los Angeles. He taught dance classes and was discovered by Beachbody. He made a series of fitness videos.
   But there were still setbacks along the way. The agency that made the infomercials for Hip Hop Abs told him that it was not going to renew his contract because “infomercials don’t make money,” he said. He was devastated.
   But Mr. Thompson said that if he could change one person’s life, it was all worth it.
   ”For me, it’s about helping people become better and healthier and happier. At the end of the day, it all begins with you. You are 22 years old and you are in the best position to build the best life for yourself that you can. Don’t wait until you are 38 years old or 45 years old,” he told the students.